Nahr Thawra

The canal that threads the northern quarters of Damascus onto one line. The Thawra leaves the Barada at the West Sadirvan, the fourth division point, opposite the Khalid al-Azm mansion. From there it runs east along the skirt of Mount Qasioun and waters every quarter on its way.

Which quarters it waters

Salihiyya and its gardens, Souq Sarouja, Uqayba, Amara, the ground around the Aqsab Mosque, Zaynabiyya and Qassaa. It then leaves the city, enters the Ghouta and ends at Adra. The sources keep the two Barada branches through Salihiyya apart: the Yazid on the Akrad side, the Thawra on the Salihiyya side.

Where the name comes from

Arabic sources give the name as Syriac in origin, Thawra, with the Damascene pronunciation Tora settling in later. The older name of the canal was Nahr Saqat. So the name in use today survives as it is spoken rather than as it was written — which is true of most water names in Damascus.

Don’t miss

Instead of following the canal, look at what the canal did. The mansions of Souq Sarouja, the courtyard houses of Amara and the Aqsab Mosque all sit on the same line of water, and all of them used it for gardens. You will not see water in the street. You will see the height of the street and the height of the garden walls, and between them they draw the canal.